Men's soccer learns tough lessons

It is evident Barclay College Men's Soccer is loaded with potential, and clearly experiencing some growing pains as they near the mid-point of their season.

Royce Bryan, Barclay Sports

It is evident Barclay College Men's Soccer is loaded with potential, and clearly experiencing some growing pains as they near the mid-point of their season. Following a three game winning streak, the Bears have now lost three in a row, including a tough NCCAA Southwest Regional loss Friday night to Dallas Christian College (Dallas, TX) and a conference loss to Calvary Bible College (Kansas City, MO) on Saturday.

Friday under the lights at Barclay College, Dallas Christian scored two goals in the first thirty minutes of the game to put the Bears back on their heels. In the closing minutes of the first half, following two red cards, both teams went into the half down a man and the score 2-0 Dallas Christian. Playing ten on ten in the second half, the Bears struck first when Fr. Justin Segura (Chino Hills, CA) connected from twenty yards out to narrow the Crusaders lead to one. However, minutes later, after the Bears narrowly missed several shots, the Crusaders tacked on one more goal to walk away with a 3-1 win.

"I was proud of the guys that finished the game. They played their hearts out," said Assistant Coach Marc Compton. "I also think there is a lot to learn from this soccer game and not just about soccer but about life. They need to understand that as Christians we are called to a higher standard regardless if things are fair or not and we need to respond as Jesus would respond."

Saturday afternoon the Warriors of Calvary Bible struck first in the early moments of the game and then added another goal shortly after to go into halftime with a 2-0 lead. Early in the second, the Bears took another blow by losing Sr. defensive leader and captain Sammy Sanders (Haviland, KS) who received his second yellow of the game after a hard tackle. Following the Sanders ejection the Bears played a man down the rest of the half. When things looked bleak, Fr. Kingsley Assibey (Accra, Ghana) out-maneuvered the Warrior defense and scored from close range to narrow the gap to one with ample time remaining in the game. In a matter of seconds, the momentum had shifted, but Calvary Bible College stayed the course and utilized the extra man advantage they had to tack on one more goal to close the game out 3-1.

The Bears (4-4, 1-3) will be back at it Tuesday when they travel to Moore, OK to face Hillsdale Free Will Baptist at 4:00 PM CST. The Bears defeated the Saints earlier in the season 3-1 in Haviland, KS. On September 21st and 22nd the Bears are on the road against Central Bible College (Springfield, MO) at 3:00 PM CST and then against St. Louis Christian (Florissant, MO) at 2:00 PM on Saturday.